Box buckle for wrist-watch band

ABSTRACT

A combination buckle and receptacle which is adapted to be attached at will either to an expansion wrist-watch band or to a non-expansible wrist-watch band. The device is made of two parts which can be removably secured to each other: one part is the receptacle part and has at both ends a pair of lugs provided with pin receiving holes for attaching the ends of two expansible watch band sections; the other part is a buckle part which is removably secured to the receptacle part underneath the same and to secure thereto and to form a passage for one-half band section of a non-expansible wrist-watch band. Preferably, the fastening means for adjustably securing one-half band section consists of a screw with an elastic pad adapted to tighten the half-band against the buckle part. The receptacle is closed in watertight manner and can contain a combination compass and thermometer, medicine pills, small miscellaneous items, an identification tab, photographs and the like.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3324,39

Grandmont Dec. 9, 1975 BOX BUCKLE FOR WRIST-WATCH BAND [57] ABSTRACT {76] Inventor: Joseph L. Grandmont, 6976 A combination buckle and receptacle which is deNormanville St., Montreal, adapted to be attached at will either to an expansion Quebec, Canada wrist-watch band or to a non-expansible wrist-watch band. The device is made of two arts which can be 22 p Flled Jan 1975 removably secured to each other: one part IS the re- PP N01 ,882 ceptacle part and has at both ends a pair of lugs provided with pin receiving holes for attaching the ends 52 US. Cl. 24/163 K; 24/168; 24/3 F; of two expansible Watch band Sections; the other part 2 4 /262 224/28 B, 224/26 E is a buckle part which is removably secured to the re- [51] Int Cl 2 A441; ll/06 A44B 21/00 ceptacle part underneath the same and to secure [58] Field of Search 24/163 K 224/28 B thereto and to form a passage for one-half band sec- 2241/26 E 3 tion of a non-expansible wrist-watch band. Preferably,

the fastening means for adjustably securing one-half band section consists of a screw with an elastic pad 56 1 UNI References Cited adapted to tighten the half-band against the buckle TED STATES PATENTS. part. The receptacle is closed in watertight manner 1,508,963 9/1924 Dorf. 224/26 E and can contain a combination compass and therl,642,629 9/l927 Rankin 224/26 E mbmeter medicine mall miscellaneous items an identification tab, photographs and the like. Przmary ExammerBernard A. Gelak 4 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures BOX BUCKLE FOR WRIST-WATCH BAND The present invention relates to wrist-watches and, more particularly, to a wrist-watch combined with a receptacle carried by the wrist-watch band opposite the watch, the receptacle serving to carry in a highly accessible manner various items and instruments.

It is known that there are two general types of wristwatch band, namely: the expansion type, generally made of metal members disposed side by side and spring loaded to a retracted position, and the wristwatch band of the nonexpansible type, made of two half-band sections of leather, fabric, metal or the like and adapted to be adjustably secured to each other in overlapped position by means of a buckle.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide a receptacle of the character described, which is adapted to be used in combination either with an ex pansion wrist-watch band or non-expansible wristwatch band, in which latter case the receptacle assembly serves as an adjustable buckle. I

A more specific object of the invention resides in a device of the character described, which is made of two separate parts which can be easily and quickly releasably secured to each other, one part forming a receptacle and having means for permanent connection to two separate sections of an expansion wrist-watch band, the other part forming in combination with the first-named part a buckle means for use with non-expansible wristwatch band.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple means for adjustably fastening the free end of the halfband section of the non-expansible wrist-watch band.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the combination of an ordinary wrist-watch, an expansion wrist-watch band and the receptacle part of the assembly in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a wrist-watch, nonexpansible wristwatch band, receptacle part and buckle part of the assembly of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the receptacle part of the receptacle assembly;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the buckle part of the receptacle assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a thermometer assembly to be lodged in the receptacle;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the closure ring for the receptacle;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the transparent disc for closing the receptacle;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a message carrying disc or tag to be inserted into the receptacle;

FIG. 9 is an exploded elevation of the fastening screw assembly; and

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal section of the two parts of the device in assembled position and taken along line 10l0 of FIG. 2.

In the drawings, like reference characters indicate like elements throughout.

The combination buckle and receptacle of the present invention are made of two parts shown in top plan view in FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively, namely: a casing part generally indicated at I and a buckle part generally indicated at 2. The casing part has the general outline of a wrist-watch, being of elongated flat shape defining a cylindrical receptacle 3 upstanding from the center of a base member 4, which forms a bottom 5 for the receptacle 3 and has an underface 6. The cylindrical wall of the receptacle 3 is externally threaded, as shown at 7 in FIG. 10, to receive an inwardly threaded closure ring 8, shown in FIGS. 6 and 10, said ring having an inwardly radially directed top flange 9 adapted to maintain a closure disc 10 on top of the receptacle 3 in liquid-tight receptacle closing position. The disc 10 is preferably made of transparent material, such as glass or plastic. The base 4 is formed at each opposite end thereof with a pair of spaced lugs 11, 1 1, each provided with a bore 12 opening at the inner face of the lug, the bores 12 facing each other and serving to receive, as for an ordinary wrist-watch, spring-loaded pins serving to connect the ends of a wrist-watch band to the casing part 1.

The buckle part 2, shown in FIGS. 4 and 10, comprises a relatively thin plate member 13, of elongated shape, provided along its two longitudinal sides with upstanding ridges 14 which are substantially parallel and spaced from each other. Furthermore, a bridge member 15 extends across the buckle part at one end thereof, is secured to the two ridge members 14 at its ends and extends in spaced parallel relationship with the top surface 16 of the base plate 13. The bridge member 15 has at the center thereof a threaded through bore for threadedly receiving a screw 17 having knurled head 18 and having at its free end a blind bore 19 tapering towards its opening to receive and retain the similarly shaped anchoring portion 20 of an elastic bumper or pad 21.

Parts 1 and 2 are adapted to be assembled together with the top faces of the ridges l4 flat against the underface 6 of the casing part 1 by means of four small screws 22 adapted to pass through through bores 23 of the buckle part 2 and threaded bores 24 of the casing part 1.

When in assembled position, the two parts 1 and 2 are substantially co-extensive with lugs 25 protruding from one end of the base plate 13 of the buckle part 2 disposed opposite and being co-extensive with the lugs 11 at one end of the casing part 1. The lugs 25 are provided with blind bores 26 opening at the inner face of the lugs and facing each other, so as to receive the ends of a spring-loaded pin adapted to attach a wrist-watch half-band section to the buckle part 2.

When the two parts 1 and 2 are in assembled position, there is defined a through passage 27 between the top face 16 of base plate 13 and the underface 6 of the casing part 1. Said passage 27 is in communication with passage extension 28 defined between the bridge 15 and the base plate 13. In the assembled positions of the casing part 1 and buckle part 2, the lugs 11' of the casing part extend on each side of the ends of the bridge member 15, said bridge member protruding above the top face of ridges 14.

The device of the invention is used as follows.

In the assembled position of the casing part 1 and buckle part 2, one half-band section 29 of a non-expansible wrist-watch band (see FIG. 2) is attached at one end by means of a spring-loaded pin adapted to be inserted into bores in lugs 30 at one end of a conventional wrist-watch 31 and is similarly attached to buckle part 2 at its other end by means of a spring-loadedpin 32 (see FIG. 10) having its ends inserted into the blind bores 26 of lugs 25 at one end of the buckle part 2. The

other half-band section 33 is attached to the other end of the wrist-watch 31 by means of a spring-loaded pin, in the usual manner, while its free end portion is adapted to be inserted within passage extension 28 and passage 27 to have its free end issue from the device outwardly of the half-band section 29, as indicated at 34. Thus, the two half-band sections are in overlapped position and this overlap is adjusted by pulling on the free end portion 34 and then the wrist-watch half-band section 33 is fastened in adjusted position by screwing down the screw 17, whereby the pad 21 will engage one face of the half-band section 33 and tightly applies the latter against the base plate 13. A fine adjustment can be obtained, since there are no holes in the band 33 to receive a tongue as in usual buckles.

When the device is used in conjunction with an expansion wrist-watch band, the buckle part 2 is no longer used and is detached from the casing part 1 by unscrewing screws 22.

The expansion wrist-watch band as shown in FIG. 1 is made of two sections 35, 36, each attached in conventional manner by spring-loaded pins within the bores of the lugs of the wrist-watch 31 and within the blind bores 12 of the lugs 11, 1 1 of the casing part 1.

Receptacle 3 may be used for housing a variety of items. For instance, medicine pills 37, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, may be stored in receptacle 3 in watertight condition by means of the closure ring 8 and disc 10. If the wearer has a physical condition which might require the emergency administering of a pill, a tag 38 bearing the required instructions may be disposed within the receptacle underneath the transparent disc 10 and over the pills. Such a tag 38 may have a cutout tab 39 for easy removal thereof. The wearer instead of using the receptacle for storing pills or other small items can use it to store a thermometer, such as the circular thermometer 40 shown in FIG. 5. Preferably, the thermometer can be combined with a compass having a dial and magnetic needle on the opposite face of the thermometer.

I claim:

1. A combination buckle and receptacle for wristwatch band comprising a casing part having a pair of spaced lugs projecting from opposite ends thereof, said lugs having pin receiving holes for attaching the ends of an expansion wrist-watch band to said casing part, and a buckle part comprising an elongated plate member having two spaced substantially parallel elongated ridges protruding from one face thereof, means to removably secure said buckle part to the underface of said casing part with said ridges contacting the underface of said casing part, thereby to define an elongated passage between said casing part underface and said plate member, said buckle part having a pair of lugs protruding from one end thereof, each having a pin receiving hole facing each other for fastening thereto the end of a non-expansible wrist-watch band section, a transverse bridge member secured to said ridges at the opposite ends thereof and extending in spaced relation over said plate member to define with said plate member an extension of said passage, and means carried by said bridge member and engageable with a non-expansible wrist-watch half-band section extending within said passage to adjustably lock said last-named halfband section to said buckle part.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said last-named means includes a screw threaded in a through bore of said bridge member, an elastic pad carried by the inner end of said screw and adapted to engage and press a wrist-watch half-band section against said plate member to adjustably fasten the same to said buckle part.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing part includes an upwardly opening circular receptacle having external threads, a closure ring adapted to be screwed onto said external threads and having a radially inwardly directed flange, and a closure disc adapted to be inserted between said flange and the edge of said receptacle.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3, further including a circular thermometer assembly disposed within said receptacle, said closure disc being made of transparent material. 

1. A combination buckle and receptacle for wrist-watch band comprising a casing part having a pair of spaced lugs projecting from opposite ends thereof, said lugs having pin receiving holes for attaching the ends of an expansion wrist-watch band to said casing part, and a buckle part comprising an elongated plate member having two spaced substantially parallel elongated ridges protruding from one face thereof, means to removably secure said buckle part to the underface of said casing part with said ridges contacting the underface of said casing part, thereby to define an elongated passage between said casing part underface and said plate member, said buckle part having a pair of lugs protruding from one end thereof, each having a pin receiving hole facing each other for fastening thereto the end of a non-expansible wrist-watch band section, a transverse bridge member secured to said ridges at the opposite ends thereof and extending in spaced relation over said plate member to define with said plate member an extension of said passage, and means carried by said bridge member and engageable with a non-expansible wrist-watch half-band section extending within said passage to adjustably lock said last-named half-band section to said buckle part.
 2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said last-named means includes a screw threaded in a through bore of said bridge member, an elastic pad carried by the inner end of said screw and adapted to engage and press a wrist-watch half-band section against said plate member to adjustably fasten the same to said buckle part.
 3. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing part includes an upwardly opening circular receptacle having external threads, a closure ring adapted to be screwed onto said external threads and having a rAdially inwardly directed flange, and a closure disc adapted to be inserted between said flange and the edge of said receptacle.
 4. The combination as claimed in claim 3, further including a circular thermometer assembly disposed within said receptacle, said closure disc being made of transparent material. 